A trip to Armavir, tour to Armenia

Having a population of approximately 33,800 residents, Armavir is the center of the homonymous region. It should be mentioned that in Russia you can find the city of the identical name, founded by Armenian emigrants.

The fact of the settlement of the terrain of Armavir from the fifth millennium BC, approved by excavation and found here tools and a variety of bronze and ceramic objects of the period. It is known that the governor of Urartu Argishtis erected here a fortress Argishtikhinili. When in 331 BC, Armenia declared its independence, Armavir turned to the capital of the ancient kingdom.

They also found clay tablets with the reliquiae of the Achaemenid period and writing and various inscriptions in Greek, containing the poems of Hesiod and Euripides fragments.

Armavir is also mentioned in the periods of Seleucid, the Roman Empire, the Sassanids, Byzantines, to the point until it was subordinated by the Arabs in 645, whose reign lasted until the ninth century and then passed to Sajid dynasty, dominant in Iran. A bit later there was also the domination of the Georgian Bagrationi dynasty.

In the Middle Ages the region conquered by Byzantines and then by the Seljuk Turks, and was renamed in Sardarapat.

After the Russian-Persian war, Sardarapat stepped under the rule of Russia, even Persia tried to return it, but the attempt ended in failure.

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In the Soviet period Sardarapat was renamed in Oktomberyam, but with the independence of Armenia in 1991, the city was once again returned to its historical name.

Surroundings of Armavir, as a whole region is rich in incomparable monuments of culture and history, among which should be noted located near Metsamor, which is a vast archaeological site with graves and the remains of the Temple of Fire. Currently here presented the museum with a stunning collection of more than 22 000 showpieces from the Stone Age.

And, of course, being here, it is impossible not to visit the Cathedral of Etchmiadzin, the holy place for Armenians. It was constructed probably in the fourth century BC, in the province of Armavir. Today it is considered the spiritual heart of nation.

Not so far from the Echmiadzin is possible to visit the Archaeological Site of Zvartnots with the remains of the magnificent cathedral, built between 643 and 652 years. Exposed to the destructive earthquake of 930, only in 1900 was re-discovered.

Just two kilometers from the Cathedral of St. Echmiadzin is disposed a Saint Hripsime Church, which was built in 618 on the site of the former chapel. Hripsime, belonged by birth to the royal nobility, but chose the monastic life and was martyred in the name of faith. This shrine, amongst the oldest sanctuaries in Armenia and recognized as a beautiful specimen of Armenian architecture.